Broadband end-fire edge-fire dielectric resonator millimeter wave antenna based on common-caliber technology

Abstract

The invention provides a broadband end-fire and edge-fire dielectric resonator millimeter wave antenna based on a common-caliber technology, relates to the technical field of microwave millimeter wave communication, and realizes high integration of an end-fire array and an edge-fire array in a single array volume by adopting a common-caliber integration technology and optimizing the structure of a substrate integrated dielectric resonator antenna. The end-fire SIDRA realizes broadband work covering multiple commercial frequency bands through combination of a parallel slot mode, a slot mode and a DRA mode; meanwhile, by removing the top metal paste, the coupling between the end-fire units is reduced, and the edge-fire array is accommodated at the same time. In addition, the metal patch and non-metallization through hole technology is introduced into the edge emission part, so that good impedance matching is realized while the resonant frequency of the edge emission part is reduced.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of microwave and millimeter-wave communication technology, specifically to a broadband end-fire and side-fire dielectric resonator millimeter-wave antenna based on common aperture technology. Background Technology

[0002] With the rapid development of wireless terminal communication networks, the demand for ultra-high data rates and large-capacity processing capabilities is becoming increasingly urgent. Millimeter waves, as the cornerstone of 5G evolution and future 6G communication, can meet the demands of high-speed transmission due to their significant bandwidth advantages. To ensure sufficient spatial coverage quality, millimeter-wave beam scanning arrays with high gain and flexible beam control capabilities are widely regarded as an effective solution.

[0003] To date, numerous studies on beam scanning arrays have employed various techniques. Some studies have addressed beam coverage requirements through real side-fire or end-fire beam scanning. However, these designs are mostly limited to one-dimensional (end-fire or side-fire) scanning, making it difficult to meet the wide spatial coverage needs of mobile terminals. To overcome this limitation, researchers have proposed two-dimensional (end-fire and side-fire) beam scanning schemes, such as using symmetrical rectangular stacked patches and linear conical slots to handle side-fire and end-fire radiation respectively, or using metallized cavities and patches to achieve two-dimensional scanning.

[0004] However, existing methods still face many challenges. In some designs, end-fire and side-fire modes mutually restrict each other, resulting in bandwidth limitations and making it difficult to simultaneously cover multiple commercial frequency bands (such as n257 and n258). In other designs, overlapping radiating elements make independent design difficult, increasing feeding complexity and structural cost. Dielectric resonator antennas are considered an ideal choice for the millimeter-wave band due to their high design flexibility and broadband excitation characteristics. Although existing research has demonstrated beam scanning based on SIDRA arrays, achieving two-dimensional coverage by separately placing two types of DRA arrays, current DRA arrays are still mainly one-dimensional scanning. Achieving a co-aperture broadband millimeter-wave DRA array with two-dimensional scanning capability remains a significant challenge. Therefore, designing a co-aperture broadband millimeter-wave SIDRA array system with two-dimensional beam scanning capability has important research significance and application value. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Therefore, this invention provides a broadband end-fire and side-fire dielectric resonator millimeter-wave antenna based on common-aperture technology to solve the above-mentioned problems. The broadband end-fire and side-fire dielectric resonator millimeter-wave antenna provided by this invention employs common-aperture integration technology. Through optimized design of the substrate integrated dielectric resonator antenna (SIDRA) structure, it achieves high integration of end-fire and side-fire arrays within a single array volume. The end-fire SIDRA achieves broadband operation covering multiple commercial frequency bands through a combination of parallel slot mode, slot mode, and DRA mode. Simultaneously, by removing the top metal patch, it reduces coupling between end-fire elements while accommodating the side-fire array. Furthermore, by introducing metal patches and non-metallized vias in the side-fire section, it achieves good impedance matching while lowering the resonant frequency of the side-fire section.

[0006] The present invention provides a broadband end-fire and side-fire dielectric resonator millimeter-wave antenna based on common aperture technology. The antenna structure includes: an antenna substrate with a feed substrate disposed below it; a metal patch disposed above the antenna substrate; and non-metallized through holes, non-metallized slots, metallized through holes, and metal slots disposed on the antenna substrate.

[0007] Furthermore, the antenna substrate is provided with five sets of metallized slots; each set of metallized slots consists of bracket-shaped slots. The non-metallized slots are provided inside the metal slots, with a total of five sets of non-metallized slots; each set of non-metallized slots consists of four L-shaped slots, and the right angle of each slot corresponds to the right angle of the slot in the metal slot.

[0008] Furthermore, each set of non-metallized slots has four non-metallized through holes on its inner side, with each through hole corresponding to the antenna substrate area at the right angle of each slot. Metallized through holes are provided between adjacent metal slots.

[0009] Furthermore, a metal ground plane is provided between the antenna substrate and the feed substrate. An H-shaped slot and a cross-shaped slot are provided on the metal ground plane. A first microstrip line structure for feeding the side-firing portion and a second microstrip line structure for feeding the end-firing portion are provided on the lower surface of the feed substrate.

[0010] Furthermore, the first microstrip line structure and the second microstrip line structure are spaced apart. Multiple sets of H-shaped slots are arranged along the y-axis in the middle region of the metal ground, and multiple sets of cross-shaped slots are arranged along the y-axis in the edge region of the metal ground.

[0011] The present invention has the following advantages over the prior art:

[0012] 1. This invention achieves highly integrated two-dimensional beam scanning: for the first time, end-fire and side-fire SIDRA arrays are integrated into the same array volume, overcoming the low space utilization problem caused by the independent placement of the two arrays in the prior art, and realizing a compact shared aperture design.

[0013] 2. This invention has the broadband characteristics of multi-mode fusion: the end-fire mode utilizes the fusion of three working modes to effectively expand the working bandwidth, enabling it to simultaneously cover multiple millimeter-wave commercial frequency bands such as n257 and n258, thus solving the bottleneck of limited bandwidth in traditional designs.

[0014] 3. This invention reduces the profile and optimizes matching: By introducing a top-layer metal patch and four non-metallized vias in the side-firing section, the resonant frequency is effectively reduced, resulting in a significant reduction in the antenna profile to 1.5 mm. This achieves a lower profile while maintaining excellent impedance matching characteristics.

[0015] 4. This invention reduces the coupling between the end-firing and side-firing sections by precisely processing the top metal patch, making it possible to independently optimize the two radiation modes, while simplifying the power supply structure and reducing processing complexity and cost. Attached Figure Description

[0016] To more clearly illustrate the specific embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the specific embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained from these drawings without creative effort.

[0017] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the overall structure of the present invention.

[0018] Figure 2 The |S| of the terminal firing unit SIDRA of this invention 22 | and gain plot.

[0019] Figure 3 It is the |S of the side-fire unit SIDRA of this invention. 11 | and gain plot.

[0020] Figure 4 This is an isolation diagram between different ports of the present invention.

[0021] Figure 5 The present invention provides (a) a beam scan diagram of side-fire and end-fire antennas in the 26 GHz band and (b) a beam scan diagram of side-fire and end-fire antennas in the 27 GHz band.

[0022] Figure 6The present invention provides (a) a simulation of the reflection coefficient and gain of an end-fire antenna; and (b) a simulation of the reflection coefficient and gain of a side-fire antenna.

[0023] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures:

[0024] 1. Metal patch; 2. Non-metallized via; 3. Non-metallized slot; 4. Antenna substrate; 5. Metallized via; 6. Metal slot; 7. Cross-shaped slot; 8. Metal ground; 9. H-shaped slot; 10. Feed substrate; 11. First microstrip line structure; 12. Second microstrip line structure. Detailed Implementation

[0025] The technical solution of the present invention will now be clearly and completely described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some, not all, of the embodiments of the present invention. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0026] Example 1

[0027] This embodiment provides a broadband end-fire and side-fire dielectric resonator millimeter-wave antenna based on common aperture technology. Figure 1 This embodiment provides a schematic diagram of the overall structure of a broadband end-fire / side-fire dielectric resonator millimeter-wave antenna based on common aperture technology. As shown in the figure, it includes: an antenna substrate 4, a feed substrate 10 located below the antenna substrate 4, and a metal patch 1 located above the antenna substrate 4. For the side-fire antenna portion, non-metallized slots 3 and metal slots 6 are used to confine the energy inside the DRA, and four non-metallized vias 2 are built-in for impedance matching adjustment. For the end-fire antenna portion, the metal slot 6 is repeatedly used as the feed structure. Metallized vias 5 are embedded in the antenna substrate 4 for impedance matching adjustment. The upper surface of the feed substrate 10 is provided with a metal ground 8 with H-shaped slots 9 and cross-shaped slots 7, where the H-shaped slots 9 are used for feeding the side-fire millimeter-wave antenna, and the cross-shaped slots 7 are used for feeding the end-fire millimeter-wave antenna. The lower surface of the feed substrate 10 is provided with a first microstrip line structure 11 and a second microstrip line structure 12 (#1-#9) for feeding the microwave antenna, wherein (#1, #3, #5, #7, #9) are used for side-fire feeding, and (#2, #4, #6, #8) are used for end-fire feeding. A top metal patch 1 is printed on the top of the antenna substrate 4 and serves as an equivalent capacitor. This invention achieves two-dimensional beam scanning in the millimeter-wave band (end-fire / side-fire) while simultaneously possessing broadband operating characteristics, low profile height, and compact common-aperture integration. It achieves excellent radiation performance and physical size balance within a single array volume, making it highly practical for 5G millimeter-wave mobile terminal applications.

[0028] To achieve spatial coverage for millimeter-wave terminals, various two-dimensional beam scanning schemes have been proposed in existing technologies. However, these methods still face significant challenges in performance balance and structural design. Some designs suffer from severe mutual constraints between end-fire and side-fire modes, resulting in limited antenna bandwidth and difficulty in simultaneously covering multiple commercial millimeter-wave frequency bands such as n257 and n258. Furthermore, some structures place the radiating patch at the front end of the metallized cavity, making the independent design of end-fire and side-fire components extremely challenging. This not only complicates the feed network but also often relies on multilayer dielectric substrates, significantly increasing the physical complexity and manufacturing cost. In addition, existing dielectric resonator antennas (DRAs) typically place the two types of arrays independently when implementing two-dimensional scanning, failing to achieve deep integration within the same array volume. This results in low space utilization and excessively high profiles, making it difficult to meet the miniaturization requirements of terminals. Even under low profile conditions, current DRA arrays still face bottlenecks such as impedance matching difficulties and the inability to flexibly adjust the resonant frequency.

[0029] This invention employs common-aperture integration technology, achieving high integration of end-fire and side-fire arrays within a single array volume through optimized design of the substrate integrated dielectric resonator antenna (SIDRA) structure. The end-fire section achieves ultra-wideband operation; by partially removing the top-layer metal patch, coupling between end-fire elements is reduced, reserving design space for the integrated side-fire section. Furthermore, by introducing metal patches and non-metallized vias, the operating bandwidth, which would otherwise be required in a larger size, is achieved, thereby reducing the antenna size. This antenna system achieves efficient two-dimensional beam scanning through deep multiplexing of the radiating structure and modes.

[0030] For the first time, a common-aperture integration of end-fire and side-fire SIDRA arrays has been achieved within a single array volume. By precisely removing the top metal patch, coupling between end-fire units is effectively reduced and space is provided for the side-fire array, resulting in a compact two-dimensional scanning structure.

[0031] The bandwidth of the end-fire antenna was enhanced by utilizing a three-mode fusion technique. Broadband operation was achieved through the combined excitation of the three modes, enabling simultaneous coverage of multiple 5G millimeter-wave commercial frequency bands, including n257 and n258. A combination of metal patches and non-metallic vias was introduced to reduce the size of the side-fire section. By incorporating metal patches and four non-metallic vias into the structure, the system's resonant frequency was effectively reduced and impedance matching was improved.

[0032] This design boasts extremely high caliber utilization and integration. By integrating end-fire and side-fire SIDRA into one unit, it not only broadens the working bandwidth but also simplifies the structure, making it easy to independently optimize parameters for each mode, and significantly reduces machining complexity and cost.

[0033] Example 2

[0034] This embodiment, based on the antenna provided in Embodiment 1, uses an antenna substrate 4 with a dielectric constant of 6.15 and a loss angle of 1.9 × 10⁻⁶. -3 The thickness is 1.5mm, the dielectric constant of the feed substrate is 3.55, the loss angle is 2.7×10⁻³, and the thickness is 0.305mm. The bandwidth and gain of the end-emitting unit are as follows: Figure 2 As shown, its impedance bandwidth is 44.2% (19.4-30.4 GHz), and it reaches a peak gain of 5.7 dBi at a frequency of 27.6 GHz. The bandwidth and gain of the side-fire unit are as follows: Figure 3 As shown, its impedance bandwidth is 22.4% (23.5-29.5 GHz), and it reaches a peak gain of 6.18 dBi at a frequency of 24.4 GHz. Figure 4 This is a simulation diagram of the isolation between the end-fire and side-fire antennas. The isolation between end-fire elements exceeds 15dB, the isolation between side-fire elements exceeds 20dB, and the isolation between side-fire and end-fire elements remains above 18dB. These results demonstrate the excellent independence and design flexibility of these two components. Figure 5 (a) and (b) demonstrate the simulated beam scanning performance of the end-fire and side-fire arrays at 26 GHz and 27 GHz, respectively. The side-fire array achieves a scanning distance of ±45° in the xz plane, while the end-fire array also achieves a beam scan of ±45° in the xy plane. These results demonstrate excellent two-dimensional beam scanning capability, indicating that the proposed integrated array possesses superior spatial capabilities. Figure 6 (a) shows the mode reflection coefficient and gain of the 1×4 end-fire array. The measured -10 dB impedance bandwidth is 26.92% (22.5–29.5 GHz). Within the bandwidth, the measured gain of the end-fire array ranges from 8.1 to 10.6 dBi. Figure 6 (b) shows the corresponding results for a 1×5 side-fire array. The measured -10 dB impedance bandwidth is 22.64% (23.5–29.5 GHz). The measured gain ranges from 11.9 to 12.9 dBi.

[0035] Obviously, the above embodiments are merely illustrative examples for clear explanation and are not intended to limit the implementation. Those skilled in the art will recognize that other variations or modifications can be made based on the above description. It is neither necessary nor possible to exhaustively list all possible implementations here. However, obvious variations or modifications derived therefrom are still within the scope of protection of this invention.

Claims

1. A broadband end-fired / side-fired dielectric resonator millimeter-wave antenna based on common-aperture technology, characterized in that, include: Antenna substrate (4), with a feed substrate (10) below it; a metal patch (1) is provided above the antenna substrate (4), and non-metallized through holes (2), non-metallized grooves (3), metallized through holes (5) and metal grooves (6) are provided on the antenna substrate (4).

2. The broadband end-fired / side-fired dielectric resonator millimeter-wave antenna based on common aperture technology according to claim 1, characterized in that, The antenna substrate (4) is provided with five sets of metallization slots (6); each set of metal slots (6) is composed of bracket-shaped slots.

3. The broadband end-fired / side-fired dielectric resonator millimeter-wave antenna based on common aperture technology according to claim 2, characterized in that, The non-metallized groove (3) is set inside the metal groove (6), and there are a total of five sets of non-metallized grooves (3); each set of non-metallized grooves (3) consists of four L-shaped grooves, and the right angle of each groove corresponds to the right angle of the groove of the metal groove (6).

4. The broadband end-fired / side-fired dielectric resonator millimeter-wave antenna based on common aperture technology according to claim 3, characterized in that, Each group of non-metallized grooves (3) has four non-metallized through holes (2) on its inner side. Each non-metallized through hole (2) is respectively located in the antenna substrate (4) area on the inner side of each right angle of the non-metallized groove (3).

5. The broadband end-fired / side-fired dielectric resonator millimeter-wave antenna based on common aperture technology according to claim 4, characterized in that, Metallized through holes (5) are provided between adjacent metal grooves (6).

6. The broadband end-fired / side-fired dielectric resonator millimeter-wave antenna based on common aperture technology according to claim 5, characterized in that, A metal ground (8) is provided between the antenna substrate (4) and the feed substrate (10).

7. The broadband end-fired / side-fired dielectric resonator millimeter-wave antenna based on common aperture technology according to claim 6, characterized in that, The metal ground (8) is provided with H-shaped slots (9) and cross-shaped slots (7).

8. The broadband end-fired / side-fired dielectric resonator millimeter-wave antenna based on common aperture technology according to claim 7, characterized in that, The lower surface of the power feeding substrate (10) is provided with a first microstrip line structure (11) for side-emitting portion power feeding and a second microstrip line structure (12) for end-emitting portion power feeding.

9. The broadband end-fired / side-fired dielectric resonator millimeter-wave antenna based on common aperture technology according to claim 8, characterized in that, The first microstrip structure (11) and the second microstrip structure (12) are spaced apart.

10. The broadband end-fire and side-fire dielectric resonator millimeter-wave antenna based on common aperture technology according to claim 9, characterized in that, The H-shaped gaps (9) are arranged in multiple sets along the y-axis in the middle region of the metal ground (8), and the cross-shaped gaps (7) are arranged in multiple sets along the y-axis in the edge region of the metal ground (8).

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